I found your comments interesting. I too have noticed myself sighing more frequently after developing heart failure.
You don't mention what kind of sighing and it's frequency.
Typically, shortness of breath or breathing problems will prompt a person to sigh in frequent, short sighs....in a struggle to get more oxygen. You don't mention the basis of the doctor's diagnosis that this is not related to the chf. Is it simply from listening to the heart and lungs, or were chest x-rays taken as well? Is it more frequent when she is lying down? Does it happen more frequently if her weight goes up due to fluid retention? Is there a history of any asthma or COPD? These questions would be important considerations in determining a good diagnosis of whether the sighing is heart failure related. Another question would be whether beta blockers have been prescribed recently. One doctor told me that he had heard that beta blockers can worsen (slightly) underlying and undetected cases of asthma. Beta blockers also supress the sypathetic nervous system which is responsible for regulating breathing and it can take several months for the body to adjust to the changes brought on by the beta blockers.
Another type of sigh is an emotional one, often a sign of depression or mood. This type of sighing is typically less frequent, deeper and more "purposeful". Some research suggests that as many as 70% of heart failure patients are depressed because of their condition, a lack of hope, their anxiety over the future, etc. I think sometimes we sigh in front of others, perhaps unconsciously, to let them know we aren't well, aren't happy.
In my case I think I sigh for a couple of reasons. Heart failure is an illness which means that the heart is not pumping sufficient quantities of oxygen filled blood to the rest of the body. I think sometimes I sigh in an effort to try to help compensate for this physical condition. It may not be a problem of being short of breath, but a habit I've gotten into, whether beneficial or not, to compensate and try to get more oxygen into my lungs and blood stream. Every once in awhile I find myself doing it more often and usually it's when I'm feeling most fatigued. And when I'm most fatigued, I think I usually end up being in my worst moods, so perhaps my sighing is an emotional response as well.
Don't know if this helps, but, I hope you find some answers.
Bill
Posted on Mar 1, 2002, 9:32 PM from IP address 63.29.95.237